The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Licence plates matching call letters

**Posted by Dale Patterson** September 18, 2019 5:39 pm

Seeing lots of Ontario plates with call letters on them, but none yet have matched the frequency. Today it was "Close, But No Cigar" when I saw CJBC 862. Has anyone seen a plate where the call letters and frequency match up?

**Posted by RadioActive** September 18, 2019 5:49 pm

Wow, it's odd you would post this. I've been seeing a lot of this too while out walking the pooch, although the frequency never matches. I thought I was the only one who noticed this ephemera.

Most are from stations that are out of town - CJAY is a common one in my area, a station located in Calgary.

**Posted by megaphone** September 18, 2019 7:14 pm

Interesting you make mention of this. I have seen several vehicles the past few days, at least 3, along Highway 400 with plate number CFNY. No matching call letters.

**Posted by PaulR** September 19, 2019 8:44 am

... also saw a CFNY plate in Collingwood on the weekend. Was Geets in town??

**Posted by RadioActive** September 19, 2019 8:50 am

The ironic part of all this is if you actually tired to get a specialized plate with your favourite station's call letters on it, it would probably be denied as being proprietary and someone else's copyrighted property.

**Posted by zed** September 19, 2019 9:06 am

Lots of CKLW plates around London

**Posted by TomSanders** September 19, 2019 9:21 am

I saw a Michigan plate CBS 740, for KCBS in San Francisco. Have also seen a couple Michigan CHUs and, in Port Huron, many Ontario plates with four letters that start with CH but no CLS that I recognize.

**Posted by RadioAaron** September 19, 2019 9:38 am

They're everywhere right now. Have seen one match CHTZ 977 (and pretty sure it wasn't a station vehicle or the PDs car or anything)

**Posted by Radiowiz** September 19, 2019 10:27 am

RadioAaron wrote:
They're everywhere right now. Have seen one match CHTZ 977 (and pretty sure it wasn't a station vehicle or the PDs car or anything)

For $100 you can find out who the plates actually belong to, (In Toronto) but I think you need a police investigation permission to grant that.

**Posted by Glen Warren** September 19, 2019 10:56 am

spotted a late model SUV in Burlington this morning with CKFM ### plates.

Probably just the letter sequence of plates currently being manufactured and released.

**Posted by markow202** September 19, 2019 12:47 pm

I saw CKLP

**Posted by RadioActive** September 19, 2019 12:58 pm

Just to carry this one step too far, there's a truck I pass every day, usually parked in someone's driveway. The final few letters of the plate catch my attention every time: 9RB.

Those were, of course, CFRB's call letters when it was testing after first signing on the air way back in the late 1920s.

**Posted by TomSanders** September 19, 2019 4:20 pm

Seen today: a Michigan bridge plate, three letters / three numbers, with letters CBY (Corner Brook Newfoundland, the only NL station likely to be heard in Michigan). Three numbers means someone has CBY 990.

I heard this in Dec 1975 -- Dan Ingram was reading plate numbers of cars that had been spotted displaying WABC Car Star stickers. He got to a New Jersey plate whose letters were WWV, and said "that's the time station, isn't it? Sure it is .... " And I thought: now how did he know that? (already knowing anything was possible w Big Dan

**Posted by Storm** September 19, 2019 10:14 pm

Bought a new vehicle at the end of July and the licence plate is CKFM, but the numbers are not 999.

**Posted by Saul** September 19, 2019 10:32 pm

As an avid FM DXer I was pleased when the four letters I randomly gotwere AFMR...

**Posted by TheWiz** September 19, 2019 10:40 pm

I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets a kick out of the Call letter licence plates. CFTR is a common one in the K-W area. Still haven't seen CFTR 680 though.

**Posted by Radiowiz** September 19, 2019 11:16 pm

Storm wrote:
Bought a new vehicle at the end of July and the licence plate is CKFM, but the numbers are not 999.

965 maybe? https://www.facebook.com/965CKFM/

**Posted by TomSanders** November 8, 2019 1:55 pm

Spotted this week in Port Huron: an Ontario plate with the letters CJBC and numbers in the low 800s, on a car with a Kingston dealer's license plate frame.

The house down the block has a pickup truck with Arizona plates whose letters are WSM. I see it every time I go to town / come home. Older AZ plates have three numbers followed by three letters, making 650-WSM possible if the plate owner still has a vehicle registered.

Last edited by TomSanders (November 8, 2019 2:05 pm)

**Posted by RadioActive** November 8, 2019 3:01 pm

I actually saw CHCH in a parking lot last week. Also twice, I've seen CJRT, although the numbers weren't close to 91.1

**Posted by kevjo** November 8, 2019 9:02 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I actually saw CHCH in a parking lot last week. Also twice, I've seen CJRT, although the numbers weren't close to 91.1

Since I was driving I couldn't snap a pic but the other day saw a plate with CKEY 590. Coincidence or custom for a former radio person?

**Posted by Hamiltonboy** November 9, 2019 2:50 pm

CFTO CITY CHFI CKOC and CHUM will never be seen since regular Ontario plates don’t use vowels I, O, or U.

**Posted by Brad** November 9, 2019 2:52 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I actually saw CHCH in a parking lot last week. Also twice, I've seen CJRT, although the numbers weren't close to 91.1

Was it a CHCH vehicle? I believe all their news vehicle plates read CHCH 01, CHCH 02, etc.

Last edited by Brad (November 9, 2019 2:53 pm)

**Posted by RadioActive** November 9, 2019 7:09 pm

Nope. It was a regular vehicle in a parking lot.

**Posted by potentiometer** November 10, 2019 6:57 pm

I play Radio license plates all the time. It's great fun. One I saw today amused me -- CKWL 008.
To semi-quote the Original Star Trek pilot episode, all the parts were there, they just didn't know how to put them together.

**Posted by RadioActive** January 18, 2020 8:18 pm

This is an old thread, but here's a new story about a Texas radio station that wasn't allowed to use its own call letters on a licence plate. See if the reason makes sense to you - or your teenage kid.

KGAF radio told its call letters are too vulgar for a Texas license plate

**Posted by RadioActive** March 10, 2020 9:24 am

RadioActive wrote:
This is an old thread, but here's a new story about a Texas radio station that wasn't allowed to use its own call letters on a licence plate. See if the reason makes sense to you - or your teenage kid.

KGAF radio told its call letters are too vulgar for a Texas license plate

It's the most unimportant story you'll read today, but just to finish off this ridiculous tale, they finally let the guy have his plate.

Radio station finally gets license plate initially declared 'vulgar'

**Posted by RadioActive** August 6, 2023 6:40 am

A driver from Pennsylvania is a motorist after my own heart.

**Posted by Radiowiz** August 6, 2023 7:41 am

Meanwhile, someone on E bay is trying to sell Yukon Licence plates that may or may not have anything to do with CBC radio or television.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/374536800489?hash=item57342208e9:g:ueoAAOSwqIljmIxC&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8OBGRQ3Eb%2FLnKAmSGwcEfxAzvJuGkeRgkyCuDWkU%2Fab3WziKklsaLDPw6alM5zysZo4SJVGFQcLticUCN4dyIbGf%2B8OtF3gRFeE%2BMtVu1Zxx7xt30Lg3heRS1GbgG8t7cfUGe%2Bq64lgblaSUA4%2BcjNKBrvFOGR01iwS2W00NvFFCj4X%2BBk%2B5V8XZiH6ZU2%2FFuZHpTKd5U8pC4Bz4IeHzNLXAwAh7cFjRLmQgpbG5%2BDiCHsN5ILwkgUp6m2JiU%2BYUcJh13ekq60QJfImiXtqtGAlodsxzaQjUFFDlm2Xeg26Ml%2FVnJwfn%2FZ6kC4ThHrJuMA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7D3gs2aYg

**Posted by mic'em** August 6, 2023 8:14 am

I notice plates all the time since the C series began being issued. Recent ones that come to mind are CJRN a few days ago and CFTR . I have in the past also seen CJYQ, CHTN, and CKMW, all call letters of stations I worked at years ago.

Last edited by mic'em (August 6, 2023 8:16 am)

**Posted by turkeytop** August 6, 2023 8:53 am

Here in London, they have been issuing the CKLW series. If I ever see CKLW 800, I hope I can get a photo of it..